That night’s live stream quickly went viral, shooting to the top of the trending searches within half an hour.

The trending topic was also quite savvy, directly stating the key point clearly:

#YanManConfessesPastPursuitofYeLin#

The female lead’s popularity was high, and the male lead was a top star, so the comments quickly exceeded thirty thousand:

【Holy crap!! It was actually true?! Aren’t they going to lock this down?!】

【Focus on the important part, she already gave up + it’s over.】

【So Ye Lin really is as hard to pursue as the rumors say? He doesn’t even care about such a top-tier beauty??】

【Maybe he did care (?).】

【Betting: Coconut Grove (Ye Lin’s fandom name) will go on a variety show to chase his wife!!】

【CP fans, stop freaking shipping! She didn’t even name names, how do you know it’s Ye Lin?】

【She’s only filmed one drama, “Fleeting Years.” Who else could she have pursued?】

【”Top-tier in the industry” necessarily means the entertainment circle? It could be the business world, don’t ship blindly without solid evidence.】

【I don’t know if it’s Ye Lin, but if it really is, isn’t this considered riding on someone else’s popularity?】

【Not a fan of anyone, but I still want to say, the trend of tearing each other down in the entertainment circle is started by people like you. It wasn’t even intentionally brought up, can’t even casually mention your own experiences while chatting with fans anymore? In the future, can’t we even mention other actors’ names? If you do, it’s riding on someone else’s popularity? I really miss the entertainment circle of seven or eight years ago, everyone was quite laid-back.】

【Yeah, so I’m also supporting Yan Man this time. She’s just being open and honest. Whether she pursued him or not, it happened, and she’s not avoiding it or being deliberate about it. I like her a lot, just followed.】

【Yan Man would have riding on someone else’s popularity a long time ago if she wanted to. If you guys ever watched their private interactions and live streams, you’d know Yan Man’s conscience is clear, she’s just a beautiful woman focused on her career.】

The next day, Yan Man woke up and only then found out about this.

Simon clicked his tongue in amazement: “The buzz around you two is insane! It’s been number one all night, stuck there like it’s welded on.”

Suddenly, a wild idea flashed through Simon’s mind.

“What if you two actually officially announce it one day? What would happen to the trending searches then?”

Yan Man found his idea truly outrageous: “Then you might as well imagine yourself becoming a billionaire overnight by selling wigs.”

Simon: “...”

After filming the short drama for the special episodes, they had to dive into filming the official program again.

Yan Man thought for a moment: “There are only two more episodes left until the end.”

“When I was just a viewer, I didn’t feel it, but after participating, I realized how fast time flies.”

“Yeah,” Simon said, “a total of six episodes filmed, edited into twelve, plus the special episodes, which will also have around ten, it’s actually quite a lot.”

She flipped through the script and said, “I wonder where I’ll go after filming ends...”

Simon: “Think positive. What if we get first place and directly move on to a custom-made drama?”

There were still over two weeks left of filming for “This Is Acting,” and who would win first place became a topic everyone started discussing.

Just after the buzz about Yan Man and Ye Lin died down, the topic of her winning resurfaced.

【After four episodes, plus the special short dramas, we can pretty much see everyone’s acting level. The popular contenders for first place are just a few, and Yan Man is definitely one of them.】

【It would be too amazing if she got first place. Everyone else has more acting experience than her, and there’s also an established actor...】

【It probably won’t be her. The winners in previous seasons were all over 30. Acting requires some experience after all. But she should be second or third, and at worst, she won’t fall out of the top five.】

【Who’s the one blindly badmouthing her? Yan Man contributed 80% of this show’s viral acting performances, okay?】

【I don’t care, Yan Man will definitely be first! Then she can act in a custom-made drama with Ye Lin! That way, the audience can decide 10% of the plot, hehe.】

【Don’t think I don’t know what dirty thoughts are in your heads!】

【You’re overthinking it. Ye Lin is a movie actor. Except for Shi Nanhong’s drama when he first debuted, he hasn’t even made cameo appearances in recent years. For him to come and do a TV series, are you guys crazy or is he crazy?】

【He’s crazy.】

【Haven’t you seen a man crazy for love? (Sorry)】

【Yeah, yeah, someone else was also so sure Ye Lin wouldn’t participate in a variety show before.】

【Screenshot taken, don’t change your ID, poster.】

On Weibo, everyone was discussing enthusiastically. In the studio, Yan Man was also surrounded by layers of people.

Excitement was revealed in everyone’s eyes: “Man Man, did you really pursue Teacher Ye?!”

Yan Man rubbed her temples.

When she said it back then, it was entirely because she wanted to use her own example to wake up that girl with the distorted view of love. She never expected it to ferment so fiercely. It was one thing for netizens to just eat popcorn and watch, but the atmosphere outside the screen was also so stormy.

Yan Man sighed helplessly: “Why are you guys so gossipy too?”

“I entered the industry to get first-hand gossip!” someone said with a grin. “I’ll quit and become a marketing account later.”

“...”

Seeing her silence, everyone became even more excited, asking one question after another, as if they had never encountered such a brave person in reality.

“It was Teacher Ye, right? I’ll take your silence as a yes?”

“When did you pursue him? For how long?”

“Why did you give up? What was your mood when you gave up?”

“How long did it take you to give up? Did you really not like Teacher Ye anymore when you gave up?”

...

Yan Man’s head buzzed, but fortunately, the next second, Ye Lin pushed the door open and walked in.

The man’s aura was undeniable. He stood still to one side and said, lowering his eyes, “Have you all memorized the script?”

Everyone scattered like birds and beasts. Within seconds, the room was as quiet as if no commotion had ever occurred.

Yan Man finally had some peace. She sat cross-legged there reading the script, which she could lean against the wall.

The character she was playing this time was quite飒爽 (sassy and heroic), and she was deeply immersing herself in the role.

But she forgot that she was sitting next to Ye Lin’s chair. Not long after, he also sat down.

Fortunately, the man’s deterrence was still there. Even though the two of them were sitting together, everyone’s eyes kept glancing over, but no one dared to speak anymore.

After memorizing for more than an hour, Yan Man planned to take a break and suddenly remembered something.

She looked up at Ye Lin.

The man was already looking down at the script. Sensing her gaze, he naturally looked at her.

Yan Man scooted up a bit, realizing she still hadn’t reached the desired height. She crooked her finger, gesturing for him to come down a little.

As if she had some important secret to tell.

Ye Lin leaned down, moving closer to her.

Yan Man whispered, “Why haven’t our trending topics been cleared yet?”

Ye Lin: “...”

Everyone was reading the script. She didn’t want to disturb them, so she continued to whisper, “This shouldn’t be happening.”

Ye Lin said, “The PR person is on maternity leave.”

She was a little surprised: “Really?”

Soon, she saw a leave request form. It really was maternity leave.

Yan Man: “Then when will she be back?”

“Not clear yet.”

She sat there, thinking for a long while before nodding.

...

A Zhao hid in the corner, watching the scene over there, and her cheekbones uncontrollably rose again.

Li Haoge: “You look like you’re doing something sneaky every day.”

But A Zhao didn’t seem to care and said, “Don’t you think Man Man and Teacher Ye are very suitable for a drama together?”

“What?”

““The Heavenly Match.”“

Li Haoge: “...”

Today’s rehearsal ended, and it was exactly six o’clock in the evening.

Yan Man ran into Simon at the classroom door and casually said, “Do you know anyone at Weibo?”

“I know some people, what’s wrong?”

“Clear the trending topics related to me and Ye Lin,” she said. “Don’t always tie us together. People can’t even find my works when they search my name, it’s all gossip.”

Simon: “Why are you suddenly saying this?”

“It’s not sudden,” she shrugged. “I’ve actually had this idea for a while.”

The thought had been there since the BE video. Back then, for her, untying the connection was a very simple matter. Releasing the video meant everything was done, and no one in the world would put them together as a CP anymore.

But the video unexpectedly went viral, and they became even more tightly bound together.

Yan Man: “Because I knew Ye Lin’s PR only clears things every two months, I thought I’d wait a bit. But I only found out today that his PR person is on maternity leave and doesn’t seem to know when she’ll be back, so I might as well handle it on my end.”

She huffed twice: “Men really can’t be relied on.”

Simon: “...”

“Still have to rely on myself,” Yan Man sighed. “Can it be cleared?”

“It can be cleared, but...” Simon analyzed, “According to this trend, even if you clear it all, new ones might appear again soon.”

“Then at least my attitude is clear, so they won’t say I’m riding on someone else’s popularity,” Yan Man said. “And if I clear it a few more times, everyone will see our stance, and maybe the CP fans will slowly disappear.”

Yan Man said, “Which female artist became famous by炒绯闻 (hyping up scandals)?”

Simon: “Well, actually quite a few female artists became famous by炒绯闻.”

“...”

“Anyway, I won’t be one of them,” she said firmly. “I have to rely on my work.”

While speaking, A Zhao also came out from behind and leaned in. “Leaving already?”

“Yeah,” she turned her head. “Together?”

A Zhao: “You haven’t answered my question yet.”

“What?”

A Zhao’s smile suddenly became a bit twisted: “You and Teacher Ye before...”

Yan Man raised a hand and immediately interrupted.

“Don’t think about that anymore.”

“I, Yan Man, can take it and let it go,” she put her arm around A Zhao’s shoulder, her voice clear. “Since it’s already over, it’s in the past.”

With one sentence, she gave a unified answer to all the questions of the day.

...

Soon, Yan Man’s figure disappeared down the hallway, but the echo seemed to linger in the air.

Bi Tan opened the door. Clearly, this conversation had been captured by them again.

Bi Tan looked at the end of the hallway with some surprise, then at the man, and sighed, “She’s so decisive.”

Ye Lin: “...”

After thinking for a moment, Bi Tan said, “Then it seems... she really gave up on you?”

The man lowered his eyes: “Do I need you to remind me?”

Bi Tan immediately bowed obsequiously: “No, no, you must have known it already!”

“...”

The two walked a few steps. Bi Tan opened his mouth, as if he still had something to say.

Ye Lin said faintly, “Want to deduct your salary again?”

Bi Tan immediately turned away knowingly, covering his mouth with both hands.

Once in the car, Bi Tan wanted to look at something to distract himself. He swiped on Weibo and saw the live stream clip from Yan Man last night.

He hadn’t had time to watch it before. Now, when he opened it, Man-style golden sentences immediately came out.

--”In the whole world, there are 3.5 billion men.”

Bi Tan slapped his thigh and laughed out loud, “Hahahahahaha, awesome! What a cool love motto!”

He looked up and saw Ye Lin opposite him lift his eyelids, looking at him expressionlessly.

Bi Tan immediately put away his phone: “Sorry.”

How could he forget that the person involved was right here?

Back at the hotel, Ye Lin sat on the balcony for a while, then turned back to the bathroom.

The bathtub had been filled with water for a long time. He closed the drain and slowly sat down in it.

A Hong Kong movie from a long time ago was playing on the screen. He bent his legs and watched, the fluent Cantonese sounds filling the entire space.

Suddenly, a notification slid down the banner.

It was “Sheng Sheng Man.”

A WeChat name that hadn’t appeared for a long time.

He subconsciously frowned, reached out and clicked it open. It was indeed a message from her.

The last one was almost two months ago. She said: 【Baby, remember to bring our love token little bear!】

In the blink of an eye, it was today. Time seemed to jump, pulling out a blank space, and the picture gave a more direct contrast—

Now she said: 【Teacher Ye, I’ve already cleared the trending topics on my end. To avoid any information gap, I’m letting you know in advance. If you need to clear any trending topics later, please also let me know to avoid duplicate actions.】

The message was recalled a few seconds later.

When it was sent again, she had changed the “you” inside to “you” (formal).

More distant, more remote.

He opened Weibo and typed in his name. All the trending topics related to her had disappeared.

And her side was even more thorough. All the trending topics related to him had become a blank space.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if something had emptied out along with the trending topics. He sat up in the water.

...

It must be because he soaked for too long, the water was too cold, he thought.

The man lowered his eyes, then raised his hand and took off his bathrobe.

The wind howled, the world beyond his senses was still noisy and lively. The faint laughter of young girls came from next door, gradually erased by the night.

The water in the bathtub hadn’t been drained and was still slowly steaming. The small screen beside it accurately displayed the temperature, the most suitable 38 degrees Celsius for the skin.

Yan Man’s super topic on Weibo was bustling.

Having been questioned about riding on someone else’s popularity in the morning, she had untied the connection with extremely high efficiency in the evening. Her attitude was clear to anyone with discerning eyes.

Coincidentally, the lip mask endorsement she had mentioned before was officially announced. Fans originally thought it was just a simple single-line lip mask, but later they realized that Yan Man was too modest—

She was endorsing the entire product line of a national makeup brand, and the lip mask was just one item among them. It was only because it was a new product that they had increased the promotional efforts.

The trailers were especially beautiful, switching between several styles that Yan Man could easily handle.

Going viral was an easy thing.

With two happy events happening at the same time, the super topic started a beautiful giveaway.

【No fandom restrictions. If you were a black fan before but now need to follow Yan Man, retweet to win a full set of makeup from the sponsor.】

【Adding more, if the retweet count exceeds 10,000, I’ll send you Yan Man’s new endorsed products every year for ten consecutive years.】

【Hahahaha, everyone is so rich! I don’t have much to give away, so I’ll pick a lucky person to tutor you in your homework (?). I’m in the top 5 of my grade at a 211 university, specializing in advanced mathematics, calculus, and English.】

【Retweet to win a lucky person to teach you how to dress. I’m a stylist with a six-figure annual salary.】

【Retweet to win a lucky person to teach you how to pass exams. I passed my teaching qualification, CET-4, CET-6, and driver’s license on my first try with high scores.】

【? Your giveaways are different from everyone else’s...】

【#ManFamilyHighQualityFanAwards#】

【Yan Man is so awesome... even the fans she attracts are so awesome...】

【I’m rushing over for a passionate retweet! Please teach me how to pass my teaching qualification, thank you, thank you!!】

...

In the following days, Yan Man lived a vibrant life. Endorsement advertisements began to cover offline channels. Occasionally, when she opened WeChat, she would see photos sent by friends, saying they had seen her photos again somewhere.

The “This Is Acting” competition also went smoothly. She successfully passed each round, ranking high in the safe zone, a popular contender for the championship.

Her Weibo followers also soared, breaking the ten million mark.

There was also a grading system for artists in the industry. According to Weibo followers, ten million was second-tier; thirty million plus work recognition was first-tier; sixty million plus sufficient buzz was top-tier.

Even Simon sighed in amazement: “Even the company’s S+ artists in the past didn’t gain followers as fast as you. Ten million in just over a month. If this continues, give it some time, and becoming a top star will be a piece of cake?”

“I still need good work,” she said “, I’ll prepare well for the finals.”

Having reached this point, her goal was naturally first place.

To get a good custom-made script and film the kind of dramas she liked.

The untying of her and Ye Lin’s trending topics was also progressing well. These days, Yan Man became increasingly frank with him, feeling completely relaxed.

That day, when she just arrived at the studio, preparing for the first rehearsal, a staff member happened to walk out of Ye Lin’s restroom.

Seeing her, the staff member quickly smiled.

“Perfect timing, Teacher Man Man. We have a shoot for ‘China Fashion’ magazine here. Let me show you the rundown!”

Yan Man: “Magazine shoot?”

“Yes, the show is nearing its end. According to our program’s tradition, the teachers will shoot a magazine cover with the mentors as a form of promotion and commemoration.”

The staff member said, “The magazine has given some directions, saying you can start preparing.”

“Okay,” Yan Man held out her hand. “Let me see.”

She took the rundown, politely said thank you, and walked towards the classroom.

By the time she reached the classroom door, she had almost confirmed the rundown twice. She stopped.

The trending topics were untied—

But could someone tell her, what was the meaning of this cover shoot where she had to lie on Ye Lin’s lap?